A Lenten Daily Devotion: Zechariah 12:10-14

Another daily devotion for Lent. We hope you enjoy these and will visit us to learn more.

Zechariah 12:10-14  And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Although Zechariah spoke these words, they were the words of the Lord. Yet how could this be? How could God say, “They look on me, on him whom they have pierced?” Could God be wounded? Even more puzzling, could God be “pierced” – which indicated a killing? In other words, could God die? Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy. Not only was he fully God, he was also fully man. Moreover, as the prophecy predicted, Jesus was the “only child” and “firstborn” Son of the Father (John 3:16). He died and, on the cross, he was pierced: “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John19:34).

The prophecy, however, said more. It said that those who pierced him would mourn because God would pour out on them “a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy.” In other words, the Spirit would open their eyes to see what they had done and how grievous their sin had been. This mourning would be widespread yet intimate – “the land shall mourn, each family by itself.”

In part, this prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. Peter said to his listeners, “You crucified and killed [Jesus] by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). Then, upon hearing the gospel, they were “cut to the heart” and 3,000 were saved that day (Acts 2:37-41). Today, this prophecy is still being fulfilled. As the Spirit fills us with grace, we mourn over Christ’s death because we know that “he was wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). In our sorrow, however, we also rejoice because his death “brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). 

Prayer

Lord, we confess that our sin pierced Jesus. Thus, we mourn and ask you to pour out your Spirit of grace and mercy. In humility, we rejoice that your loving-kindness never fails – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). In Christ’s Name, Amen. 

Peace and blessings!


Fr. Thierry

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay”(Habakkuk 2:3).

Lenten Devotion Psalm 22

Psalm 22:1-11, 29-31  My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

Psalm 22 is the first in a cluster of psalms that describe the suffering of someone which seems to echo the accounts in Isaiah of the suffering servant of the Lord. The first line of this psalm is likely to be familiar to us because Jesus cried out these exact words when he was being crucified on the cross. Yet this psalm was written by David, many generations before that. Whatever suffering of his own that David was recounting, he was also prophetically describing the redemptive suffering of Christ on the cross thousands of years later. Jesus would have read this psalm many times in his life during worship at the temple. He no doubt had it memorized, for it to come so readily to his mind when he was on the cross. Knowing what he was going to face, Jesus could have spent his life in fear or dread. Instead, he, like David before him, clung on to what he knew was true: God is holy, God is his God, and God has been trustworthy throughout his life. And then, based on these truths, David appeals to God to stay close to him. Jesus knew, though, that the greatest suffering he would face would be abandonment by God, so that God would never abandon his people. The psalm ends with praise and a note of triumph at the end: “for he has done it.” Jesus stayed to the end, bore our sins, and purchased our reconciliation with God. The messianic nature of the psalm becomes clear as David declares that past generations that have died as well as future generations not yet born will all come to know that his God is a God who delivers his people from suffering. After all because Jesus really was completely forsaken by God (for us!), we can be confident that we never will be abandoned, even if, in our suffering, God seems far away or silent when we call out.

Prayer

Gracious God, we glorify you that because Jesus knew what it meant to be utterly separated from you, we will never have to experience that. Strengthen our faith to truly believe this especially when we think we have reasons to doubt it. In Christ’s Name, Amen.

Peace and blessings!

Fr. Thierry


"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay”(Habakkuk 2:3).

Emmanuel, God Is With Us. Christmas Day Sermon

Christmas is not just a holyday like any other. It is the foundational mystery of our Christian faith because it marks the beginning of the redeeming work of God. It reminds us of what had been announced by the prophet of the Old Testament: how God decided to come into our humanity so that we can again have access to Him.


God Became Human
John 1: 14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

To get the full understanding of that verse you have to go back up to verse 1 of the first chapter of the gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Word was God and the Word became flesh. Here is the logical assertion of this verse: If the Word was God and the Word became flesh, then God became flesh. God became human. Jesus Christ was human and Jesus Christ was God.


The Prophet had announced his coming
1. Micah prophesied of the pre-existence of the Messiah to come - Mic 5:2:

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

2. Isaiah spoke of the King to come as "Everlasting Father" – Isa 9:6-7:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

3. Zechariah recorded the Messiah’s own promise to come - Zech 2:10-11: 

"Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming and I will live among you," declares the Lord. "Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord almighty has sent me to you."

God is now with us
"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The word for "dwelt" is the word for "set up a tent" in Greek. I used to think that this implied mainly that he was here only temporarily. But when I looked up all the places this word appears in the New Testament, I found that it doesn't imply temporary status. For example, in Revelation 21:3 where the eternal new heavens and new earth are described, it says, "Behold the dwelling [tent!] of God is with men. He will dwell [pitch his tent!] with them, and they shall be his people."

I think what pitching a tent with us implies is that God wants to be on familiar terms with us. He wants to be close. He wants a lot of interaction. If you come into a community and build a huge palace with a wall around it, it says one thing about your desires to be with the people: you don’t want to be bothered by the “noise” and “smell” around you; you just want to separate yourself from the rest of the community. But if you pitch a tent in my backyard, you will probably use my bathroom and eat often at my table. This is why God became human. He came to pitch a tent in our human backyard so that we would have a lot of dealings with him. He will eat with us; he will interact with us.

The implications of “the Word was made flesh”?
What is the connection between all this revelation and you? Verse 16 of the first chapter of the gospel of John gives the answer: "And from his fullness have we all received grace upon grace." This means that God came not just to show us grace but to be gracious to us.

God doesn't just want to load your head with knowledge about his truth and grace, he wants you to receive it and experience it. This Christmas he wants to give you personally a foundation of truth and reality to stand on so you won't collapse under stress. This Christmas he wants to treat you with grace—to forgive all your sins—all of them!—to take away all your guilt, to make your conscience clean, to help you with your problems, to give you strength for each day, and to fill you with hope and joy and peace. And that is the Good News of Christmas!

Let’s pray and thank God for sending His Son, Jesus! Dear God, Thank you that you love us. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to be here with us. Thank you for Christmas. We love you. Amen.


Peace and blessings!

Fr. Thierry

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).

ADVENT IV: Recognition of the Word and Rejoicing in His Coming.

This week is the fourth and final week in Advent and we offer some quotes of Robert Crouse and and P.M. Scott for your meditation.

"The Advent season is multi-dimensional. It looks backward in time to the coming of the Son of God as the Infant of Bethlehem two thousand years ago; it looks forward to the end of time, to the consummation of history in the coming of the Son of God as Judge. But there is yet another dimension of the most vital importance for our spiritual life: Advent is about God’s coming now, and our Advent lessons encourage our hope and expectation of his presence in our life here and now. St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Prologue of his commentary on Isaiah, speaks of these three dimensions of Advent: the coming of the Son of God in carne: in the flesh, historically; his coming in mente: in our souls, now by grace; and ad judicium: at the judgement, at the end and as the end of history. Paramount in our Advent lessons is that second dimension: Christ’s Advent in mente, the present coming of the Word of God in our souls by grace. If you were to look at the lessons from that standpoint, you would notice how in each case the Epistle lesson underlines the present reference of the Gospel lesson.~ Dr. R. Crouse

S. John 1. 19
THIS is the record of John, when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not: he it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

"That Christ alone can prepare us for His Advent is strikingly illustrated by the testimony of the great herald of the first Advent. S. John Baptist confesses his own inferiority, and seeks to lead his hearers to Christ.

A. His Inferiority in Dignity.

In three humble negatives S. John Baptist disclaims all distinction. With the greatest emphasis he repudiates the very thought that he himself was the Messiah for whose Advent he was sent to make preparation. No words can be stronger—"He confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.”

Though in very truth the Elias which was for to come (Mal. iv. 5), he dare not advance for himself so high a claim. Though named by our Lord “a prophet and more than a prophet,” he can see in himself no resemblance whatever to the prophet foretold (Deut. xviii. 15), and often interpreted as a forerunner of the Christ. Such humility is a true mark of those best fitted to prepare others for Christ; they stand by and let Him pass. If He alone can do this work, they must of necessity be humble.

B. His Inferiority in Office.

He does not think of himself as a speaker, but as a voice; not as a messenger, but as a message. He regards his baptism of water as merely preparatory, a confession of the need of more perfect cleansing. He looks upon himself as unworthy to perform the office of a slave to the coming Master. His work was the humble duty of preparation, and the need for even that had passed away, for the Christ was standing among them though they knew it not, and his own final message was about to be delivered— “Behold the Lamb of God.”

"Christ standeth among us"—this is the last message of the Church before the great day of His coming. By His unseen Presence alone can we be prepared to celebrate His first Advent or to welcome the second Advent. All personal effort, all use of the means of grace provided in the Church, are only effectual in so far as we cling to the personal Saviour. P. M. Scott